OK, so, they didn’t say precisely those words I used in the headline. Anti-gunners almost never say things like that. They know better. More importantly, though, I think they actually believe differently. They’re absolutely convinced that what they’re doing isn’t an infringement on civil liberties but something different, something righteous.

Of course, it doesn’t matter what they think they’re doing, it’s about what they actually tried to do.

You see, in Maine, they got trounced. Yet anti-gun activists are still going to push for gun control there.

Democrats proposed several changes to the state’s gun laws for the session that begins in January, but the Legislative Council rejected most of them and tabled one. Proposals need the approval of the Legislative Council to move on to legislative committees and the full statehouse.

The Maine chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said the proposals would have protected children from potential school shootings and gun accidents in the home. The group said in a statement that the council’s decision could have “deadly consequences.”

One proposal, which failed by a vote of 4-6, would have amended laws about the definitions of child endangerment to include allowing children access to loaded firearms. Another focused on shoring up school security.

But Republican Sen. Jeffrey Timberlake, who sits on the Legislative Council, said the proposals didn’t rise to the level of emergency legislation, which is the purpose of the session. The 10-member Legislative Council includes six Democrats, and the bills failed with the help of opposition from both parties.

Of course, Maine is one of the safest states in the nation with an annual crime rate lower than a slow Chicago weekend, which is why no one is looking at these bills as any kind of emergency.

However, you do have to hand it to anti-gunners. They’re a tenacious lot, aren’t they? There’s just not any quit in them, which I can sort of respect. I just wish they’d devote that tenacity toward something that wasn’t an infringement on our liberty.

Of course, as noted before, they don’t think they’re pushing for infringements.

One of this year’s defeated proposals, offered by Democratic Rep. Vicki Doudera of Camden, was designed to ban bump stocks. It went down by a count of 1-9 in an Oct. 23 vote by the Legislative Council.

Doudera, who also proposed the child endangerment bill, said she is disappointed the bills didn’t move forward, but she believes the state’s gun safety movement will regroup.

“It’s not infringing on anybody’s rights. It’s just trying to keep Maine kids safer,” she said.

Except the child endangerment bill would have criminalized allowing access to firearms for any child. Nevermind that sometimes, it’s vital to child or family safety for the kid to be able to get their hands on a gun. No, it would turn everyone who does so criminal.

That’s an infringement on my rights both as a gun owner and a parent.

The truth is, people like Doudera and her anti-gun fellow travelers will keep pushing.

It’s only too bad for them that gun rights activists are just as tenacious as they are.